Saturday, November 30, 2013

"Another Jesus" Calling

During the hippie era there was a rising interest in spirituality, especially influenced by the Beatles and their adventures in India with mind-altering meditation and drugs. It was a time of the Vietnam War and this gentle-sounding meditative spirituality promised goodwill and harmony on earth. As young people we were told that if we could hear what the spiritual world was trying to tell us, listen quietly and meditate, we could tap into this same blissful message. By submerging our selves into an altered state of ethereal bliss we could find our path in life, and continue our spiritual journey to wholeness. Personal peace was a sure gateway to global peace we were promised.

My spiritual journey began in 1968 with automatic writing, based on a method taught by spiritualist Ruth Montgomery.[1] I would sit with pen in hand with a blank sheet of paper and meditate, calling on the voices of the spiritual world to come and speak to me. I was very earnest about this and wanted a soothing word that would portend my future. Night after night I would sit and expectantly wait.[2] Montgomery said that this automatic writing was a way for the spirit world to communicate important messages. What is automatic writing?

Scripts produced without the control of the conscious self. It is the most common form of mediumship... one of the most valuable spiritual gifts as... it opens up a direct channel for obtaining teaching from the Beyond.[3]

Over the next few years I would try other similar meditative practices in order to transcend the spiritual emptiness in my life. I was looking for a comforting word of hope for my future, and a glimmer of peace for a world that loomed on the horizon, dark and scary. And for awhile there was a light. It was beckoning and intoxicating, and it produced powerful feelings of peace and love. I basked in its radiance for many days. But one day abruptly it came to an end when a cascading series of bad things happened in my life. What had happened? I had done everything right! But when that light withdrew I was immediately thrown into a terrifying darkness.

I desperately kept trying to re-discover that bright light but it was ever elusive. One day a fellow high school student, listening to me talk of my spiritual search, taught me how to do a
centering prayer. His version came straight out of an occult
handbook. He read aloud the steps. The book said to envision myself going down, down,
down into myself to a deeper level of meditation than I had
previously experienced. And then at the very depth of this "center" I
was to call out "enter" to invite a more potent spirituality in.[4]

Fast-forward to the early 1980s.I was a fairly new believer in Jesus Christ. We were attending a charismatic church that held an ongoing prayer vigil. Off to the side of the sanctuary was a prayer chapel where we were encouraged to dedicate an hour each week. I happily settled on an early Saturday morning time for prayer. The first time I entered the cool, quiet, dimly lit chapel, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and serenity. The woman who was finishing up her prayer time slowly lifted her head and rose to greet me with a loving embrace. As I took her place in the short pew, she placed a spiral notebook in front of me. It was filled with page after page of messages from God. She explained that everyone who went into the chapel was to sit still, and wait, and listen to "the Lord" speak to us. We were then to record what he said. I scanned the messages and they all seemed encouraging, edifying, consoling and promising. Many paragraphs were filled with uplifting phrases that sounded biblical.

Recognizing this technique, I was a bit startled. I asked her nervously, "Isn't this the same as automatic writing?" "Not at all!" she rushed to assure me. She said that as a new believer I could practice this same meditative art, but this time it would be the Holy Spirit who would talk to me - talk through me - and that in this way He would speak words to others in the church. Since she was an older woman in the Lord and seemed to have much faith, I took her word for it and sat down to meditate and listen to Jesus. Pretty soon words came into my mind. They were shocking! The message I heard was not encouraging at all! It didn't match anything else anyone had written down. Instead the message I received was pure Scripture: "Repent!" it said over and over again, based on various verses from Scripture about repentance.

I struggled with what to do. Should I tear up what I had just recorded? But I noticed that it was Scripture, so I finally decided to just leave it there on the page. I walked out of the chapel into the chilly morning air a bit disconcerted. What had just happened? Hadn't I prayed and asked Jesus for a message? Why didn't my message match the other beautiful and positive words that were on the pages of that notebook? I wondered if anyone else in the church ever got such "negative" messages. I wondered if the message was real. Was Jesus really calling the people in the church to repent? Was there indeed sin in people's lives?

All week long I was troubled. Maybe it had just been a word meant for me. I examined my own life over and over again and repented of every single thing that I could think to confess. I went back the following Saturday morning and expectantly awaited again. This time when I closed my eyes to pray, I heard a new word. It said: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" These were verses from Isaiah 58:6-7. Again I was upset. Why were the words I received so different from the others? The church had just embarked on a fasting program and great victory in Jesus had been promised. Many hoped that "strongholds" in their life would be "broken" so that they could finally become wealthy. Nobody was talking about giving to the poor. They were only "believing" to get rich themselves. Was this why this verse came to my mind? I hesitantly wrote it down in the book.

For the next few months I went back to the prayer chapel every Saturday morning where I consistently heard similar messages based on Bible verses that spoke about the need to repent. I was becoming very confused. One day soon after this another older woman in the church phoned me. She was becoming quite concerned. Dave Hunt and T.A. McMahon had just issued their groundbreaking book The Seduction of Christianity and she recognized that our church was getting involved with all sorts of spiritual practices that Hunt was warning about. Then one Sunday morning service the assistant minister asked us to close our eyes and envision Jesus taking us on a journey to new see spiritual insights and hear new words. Guided imagery. Visualization. Centering. The same sorts of things I had done as a hippie. Only now we were being told that it was okay because it was "Jesus" leading us.

This church's leaders soon began to formally teach that in order to contact Jesus we needed to learn to practice these meditative arts. We were told that some members were reaching a higher, more elite form of spirituality by approaching Jesus through these methods. But what about our simple humble prayers and supplications? What about His shed blood on the Cross? The new way to reach Jesus was through our own spiritual journeys and these mystical endeavors. It promised an easier way. Nobody had to change anything about their lives, or repent of any of their evil deeds. The Gospel of Redemption was missing from these teachings. And I noticed that it was all very selfish. "Centering" always seems to result in self-centeredness.

Shortly after this episode, a group of us left the church.[5] We
formed a Bible study, and like the Bereans we began to study the Word to learn more about what had just happened to us. We also read Constance Cumbey's The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow and all the new books that Dave Hunt was writing. Our Bible study would last for over fifteen years.

Fast-forward to the early 1990s. I continued researching the New Age movement, especially to
understand more clearly the type of eastern mysticism that I had
become entangled in as a teenager. One day I received a phone call from a man identifying himself as Warren Smith. He said he had been put in touch with me by a mutual friend. Warren told me that he was a former New Ager who had been born again. He had just spent the past few years of his life traveling the country to spread the word about a book he wrote, his testimony called The Light That Was Dark.[6] I immediately understood his book title - I had also experienced the light that turned out to be dark!

Warren told me that he was becoming concerned. Almost unbelievably he was seeing these same New Age practices coming into the church. I shared a few of my prior experiences with him. We had much in common, including our mutual fears that leaders in the evangelical church were starting to take the old familiar (to us) New Age mystical concepts and dress them up in new theological garb. These leaders were promising deeper levels of new spiritual truths by performing these same old mystical methods. Warren and I both knew it to be a spiritual fraud. We worried it would only only lead people into darkness and deception.

During the next few decades I would dedicate much time to research these New Age practices as they were coming into the church. In 2002 my husband and I helped Warren Smith publish Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel. In this book Smith explained how New Age leaders were hearing a voice that claimed to be either "Jesus" or "God." This voice, as it was channeled through these New Age leaders, sounded just like automatic writing! Authors such as Neale Donald Walsch, Helen Schucman and Barbara Marx Hubbard published the channeled writings of their "God" and their "Jesus." He was giving a different gospel message, one that promised peace and prosperity on earth. Smith summarized these new teachings:

The "new gospel" teaches that when humanity collectively accepts and experiences itself as being a part of Christ and a part of God, we not only save ourselves, we save our world. The "Christ" of the "new gospel" warns that the hour is late. Peace must come. He will help. He has a plan. But everyone must play their part.[7]

When we were new believers both Warren and I never dreamed that these same old teachings would come into the evangelical church world and be believed! But they did. And they came in via the same old mystical methods we had once learned from the occult.

Fast-forward to the present. Warren Smith has
just published a new book "Another Jesus" Calling: How False Christs Are Entering the Church Through Contemplative Prayer(Lighthouse Trails, 2013). In this book Smithanalyzes the "God" of God Calling (2005) and the "Jesus" of Sarah Young's book Jesus Calling. Both this "God" and this "Jesus" have remarkably similar messages. Both deliver messages nearly identical to that of the New Age false "Christ." Both are calling believers to engage in a new (old) spirituality. The "God" of God Calling and the "Jesus" of Jesus Calling both call upon people by delivering new words. Their words were transmitted, written down, and then published. The same method!

Millions of people have now read these popular books God Calling and Jesus Calling. Both books purport to be the voice of the Lord speaking meaningful new messages to us today. The dictated words, channeled through the authors, are uplifting messages promising peace and contentment, affluence and harmony. In fact, the words of the "Jesus" of Sarah Young's Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence are promising a closer intimacy and more elite spiritual walk. Smith observes:

The word "Presence" is found more that 365 times in Jesus Calling. The term is also commonly used in the New Age/New Spirituality. And in both God Calling and Jesus Calling, "Jesus" states that experiencing his presence will unlock secret teachings, new revelations, and future things to come."[8]

Why do Christians believe they should to practice the "presence" of Jesus? Because it promises them increased intimacy with God, thus bypassing the Cross. It does seem to fill a spiritual void and/or an emotional need. And it is an easy device. Under these new teachings believers no longer need to trouble themselves about confessing besetting sins in their lives. Instead this new voice of "Jesus" speaks rosy promises of guidance and transformation, even wealth and power. This "Jesus" even promises co-creative power, the ability to transform the world by our meditative attitudes. By concentrating on the words "be still" believers learn that we can even become God.

Smith's critiques all of this in a brief well-laid-out 174-page
book. This is Warren Smith at his best - his easy folksy style renders hard concepts accessible and understandable. Each chapter is very brief and to the point. Smith raises Ten Concerns about the original book God Calling, which entered the Christian world in 2005, and Twenty Concerns about Sarah Young's Jesus Calling, which has more recently taken the evangelical world by storm. Is Jesus indeed speaking a new word to us today? Or is this the voice of "another Jesus" who is calling upon the world to laugh at the future?[9] Smith's analyses are insightful.

Sarah Young's "Jesus" encourages believers to gain more spirituality through creative visualization. This "Jesus" flatters her readers with florid speeches such as "Let My gold-tinged Love wash over you and soak into the depths of your being"[10] and "When your Joy in Me meet My Joy in you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy."[11] This same passionate "Jesus" is rapidly gaining traction elsewhere in the evangelical world. He offers spiritual experiences that are addictive and mind-altering, but not based on the truth taught in God's Word the Bible. He promises intimacy without repentance, spirituality without salvation, and communion without regeneration. Nevertheless many believe these new words. Why?

Double Check Yourself. Many readers will have questions and qualms when they first encounter Warren Smith's book. If you have already read God Calling or Jesus Calling, you may be persuaded that you have seen the light, that you are soaking in the presence of Jesus, that you are gleaning new words and gaining great intimacy with the Lord. You may even feel that you are on a marvelous light-filled spiritual path that is ever-winding deeper into the mysteries of God. You may be experiencing all sorts of uplifting and marvelous things. But is this true? Or is it a mirage?

Stop before you go any further on this spiritual journey. You need to find out where this journey originated and where it is headed. Read Smith's book and "contemplate" the simple questions that he raises. Are you sure you are hearing the right Jesus? Are you certain you are following the biblical Jesus? Maybe you should double-check. There is a lot at stake.

Warren Smith reminds his readers:

The presence that came calling on Sarah Young is extending an invitation to the readers of Jesus Calling to experience his presence as well--an invitation that is depicted in the book cover's inviting hand. Keep in mind that another invitation is also taking place. If we choose to sit "with pen in hand" waiting to hear "more" than God's inspired Holy Word, we, too, have an inviting hand. But what presence are we actually inviting into our lives?If one becomes dependent on a subjective presence rather than the objective Holy Bible, deception is inevitable.[12]

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,and shall shew signs and wonders,to seduce,if it were possible,even the elect.(Mark 13:22)

Endnotes:1. I read A Search For Truth: Personal Experience With Psychic Phenomenon by Ruth. Montgomery (William Morrow & Co., 1967). http://www.amazon.com/Search-Truth-Personal-Experience-Phenomenon/dp/B0026CQ3WO/ref=la_B000APY7I6_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385835335&sr=1-13 Before that I had read Montgomery's biography of Jeanne Dixon: A Gift of Prophecy: The Phenomenal Jeane Dixon, (Morrow, 1965). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Montgomery and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon2. Nothing happened! I am utterly convinced that it was God's grace and mercy, which is beyond my comprehension. How else could I not be overtaken by demons at this juncture in my life when I so boldly opened myself to them? 3. Leslie A. Shepard, Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (Vol. 1, A-L) (Gale Research Co., 1978), p. 79. 4. Sadly this
young man had already encountered a "spirit guide" named "Ulrich." Again, I am profoundly thankful to God for His hand of protection. Nothing happened to me when I tried this technique. 5. My husband Lynn and I will be forever grateful to the wise godly counsel of our next minister, the Rev. Bob Cutbirth, who tenderly and tediously explained the truth to us, and helped us to untangle ourselves from all of the error we had just encountered. 6. Warren Smith's original 1992 book of this title was republished in 2005 by Mountain Stream Press, with a new subtitle: The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace.7. Warren Smith, Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel (Conscience Press, 2002), Preface, p. 6. This book has been republished as False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care? (Mountain Stream Press, 2011). 8. Warren B. Smith, "Another Jesus" Calling: How False Christs Are Entering the Church Through Contemplative Prayer (Lighthouse Trails, 2013). A combination quote from both p. 74 and page 122. 9. Concern number 5 about Jesus Calling is that Young's "Jesus Tells Us to Laugh at the Future," which Smith analyzes on page 62-63 of his book. 10. This quotation is from Sarah Young, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence (Thomas Nelson, 2004), p. 310. Warren Smith cites it as an example of flattery on page 65 of his book "Another Jesus" Calling. 11. Ibid, p. 239 in Young's book.12. "Another Jesus" Calling, p. 124. Both Warren Smith and I can personally attest to the dark and occult
nature of these mystical practices. There is no other
Jesus than Jesus Christ, and His Word is already written for us in the
Bible. For those who are truly born again, the Holy Spirit is given. We
do not need any other "presence" nor any other "word."

The graphic image at the top of the post is an advertisement for a poster found on Amazon.com: "Jesus Christ Knocking At the Door Religious and Spiritual Art Print Poster," http://www.amazon.com/Christ-Knocking-Religious-Spiritual-Poster/dp/B008BZCXYMEd. Note: This book "Another Jesus" Calling would make a great Christmas present for everyone on your list this year. To order a copy call (903) 567-6423. Bulk discounts available. Other books by Warren Smith are also available.

1. The multifarious recitation of the phrase Sola Scriptura (Latin: “only scripture”) by religious leaders, priests, pastors, ministers, speakers, teachers or professors as a shibboleth[2] for gaining access into and acceptance by the evangelical subculture. This recitation of “Sola Scripture” by the religious elites serves to disarm mainstream evangelicals into believing that all their teachings reside in harmony with and in fidelity to the Protestant Bible when in fact, upon closer scrutiny, they do not (See Galatians 2:4.).

2. Uttering the Reformation saying (e.g., Sola Scriptura) to camouflage heretical teachings (i.e., human opinions) which in fact, deny, degrade and/or distort biblical truth. Uttering this “catch phrase” by an elite cadre of leaders-teachers becomes a crafty stratagem by which unsuspecting and otherwise naïve listeners and readers will accept anything they say to be biblical when in fact it might not be.

3. Employing the mantra Sola Scripture in order to get away with hiding, concealing, masking and obfuscating what would otherwise be plain biblical truth.

4. Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, religious teachers employ the shibboleth Sola Scriptura as a password to gain acceptance by and become “a mover and shaker” in what has become the cultural Christianity known as contemporary evangelicalism. Other calling cards include one’s scholarly credentials, congregation size, elitist teaching and/or spiritual reputation, esteemed friends and strategic network alliances. Bible teachers employ Sola Scripture to embellish their “authority” so as to make themselves appear in the best possible light so as to limit questions and mute debate with those who might dare to doubt or challenge their self-confessed adherence to the Bible. The Sola Scripture cover can give the illusion that everything the “Bible teacher” teaches is biblical.

5. Under the banner of Sola Scriptura, teachers rely upon flattery (See Jude 16b.), fancy rhetoric (See 2 Peter 2:18.), a non-judgmental message of “prosperity and peace” (See Jeremiah 14:13-14.), techniques such as bluff and bluster, prophetic pronouncements, confident assertions (See 1 Timothy 1:6-7.), naming-riches-and-claiming-riches (Contra 1 Timothy 6:6-10), heavenly decrees (i.e., “I declare!”), reviling the devil (See Jude 8-9.), threats and name-calling, bombastic pontifications—and even self-affected and feigned meekness—in order to dissuade their disciples, followers, customers, etc., from looking deeper into the subject matter which inquiry might lead to the discovery of “the ruse.” Such aforementioned tactics, and more, are designed to discredit and marginalize any discerners who might question whether these false teachers are in submission and adhering to biblical truth.

6. By uttering the buzzword Sola Scriptura and using props that present them to be spiritual and prophet-like (See Zechariah 13:4.)—such as parading about in ostentatious clothing that includes clerical collars and the “bling” of religious jewelry—these teachers conceal or disguise the presence of unbiblical beliefs and behaviors that detract from genuine Christian living.

With special thanks to Pastor Anton Bosch for giving us permission (Pastor Larry Bruyn and Sarah Leslie) to turn the thoughts gleaned from his previous article "Sola Camouflage" into a satire for this ongoing "NEOLOGISMS for Evangelicals" series.Credits:Mike Baldwin cartoon used with permission, www.CartoonStock.com

Monday, November 11, 2013

Sola Camouflage

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing,but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
(Matthew 7:15)

A stick insect of the order Phasmatodea, camouflaged by its appearance*

By Pastor Anton Bosch

The use of camouflage in the military is a fascinating study. But long before armies, navies and air forces began to camouflage their men and equipment to hide them from the enemy, animals and insects had been designed and created by God with colors and shapes that made them impossible or difficult to spot. Hunters have learned from the military and nature and now also use the same techniques to be less visible to their prey.
During World War II, huge parts of Burbank, CA, including the massive Lockheed factories that produced planes for the war, as well as the runways of what is now Burbank Airport, were covered with painted nets that made the factories and the airport look like suburbia from the air. There are some very interesting pictures of this on the Internet.

Camouflage is not only used by the armies of this world but also by the armies of Satan to hide its agents in plain sight. Here in Hollywood (un)reality and movie stars, gangsters and politicians hide behind big shiny crosses around their necks. One of the best ways to detect the deception is the size of the cross – the bigger the cross, the bigger the deceiver. In addition to symbols that used to belong to Christians, they also use language to hide their true nature. Sayings like “god bless” and “we are praying for you” are all part of a clever ruse to lull the non-suspecting into believing the individual can be trusted.

The agents of Rome have long used their cassocks, sandals and crosses to hide their abusive and deceptive nature. The back-to-front clerical collar (aka dog collar) has in America become standard camouflage for all sorts of frauds, New Agers and other evil workers. This is so bad that I have come to believe that anyone wearing a clerical/dog collar is indeed one of the dogs that Paul warns about: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” (Philippians 3:2). Yet millions are fooled by these imposters because of the camouflage they wear.

This kind of deception is also not new: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”(2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

But recently, as a result of a book I have been reading and various preachers I have been listening to, I have become aware of another (also not new) form of spiritual camouflage, and that is the use of the term “Sola Scriptura.” Just as the big cross and the clerical collar immediately flashes a red flag that something is wrong with the picture, the profuse use of the words “Sola Scriptura” has, for me, become a warning sign that the speaker or author is trying to hide something.

Sola Scriptura is one of the terms that came out of the Reformation and is Latin for “only Scripture.” By using the term, we mean that our faith and doctrine is based on Scripture alone and not on the traditions of men, extra-biblical documents, “revelation”, human philosophies or anything else outside of the 66 books of the Bible.

But writers and speakers are increasingly using the term to camouflage the extra-Biblical sources of their ideas. One writer uses terms like “we base our doctrine only on the Scriptures” dozens of times throughout his book. All the while he blatantly builds his ideas on everything but the Bible. In fact, sometimes he would sandwich his extra-biblical teaching between two such statements! It is so bad that while reading the book I came to discover that those words were actually a siren to draw attention to those parts of the book where he most grievously departed from Scripture and where one had to be especially careful.

The sad thing is that pastors and mature believers whom I would normally regard as very discerning, and who have also read the book, see no problem with it. So the technique clearly works so well that even the most observant and experienced are fooled by it.

A praying mantis eating its prey, a woolly caterpillar*

At a recent conference I attended, the speakers, one after the other, bandied the term “Sola Scriptura” about. Not only did they like to use the term but they seemed sincerely convinced that what they were propounding was based only on Scripture and they openly claimed that everyone else was adding to Scripture. Yet they did not have a single Scripture for the central idea they were propagating at the conference. Instead they relied on experience, statistics, the Church Fathers, and the Reformers as a base for their doctrine. Once again it seemed that almost all of the 5,000 attendees were thoroughly convinced that the speakers were speaking truth.

Does that mean that anyone who uses the term (or similar terms) is fake? No, not necessarily. But if someone makes a point of flashing a big shiny cross around, beware; and so too be very careful of those who like to assure everyone of their orthodoxy. If an author or preacher is preaching the truth from God’s Word, it should be pretty obvious and there should be no need to protest too much.

One of the many problems with identifying anyone using sources outside of the Bible is that it is impossible to be a Berean – in the sense that there is nothing in the Scripture to compare the new idea to because it finds its source outside of Scripture. But that should actually be the very basis for rejecting the new idea. If it is not found in the Bible, no matter how the author justifies the use thereof, then it should be rejected out of hand.

And don’t be intimidated by the preacher’s doctorate, credentials and background, elite “spirituality,” and least of all by his confident pronouncements, predictions and prophecies, bombastic pontifications, or affected meekness. The questions are simple: “Is it in the Bible and is this what the Bible plainly teaches?” If the speaker claims that you will not see what he sees because you do not have the special training, experience and background that he has, reject him. He is adding his “special insight” to the Scriptures. (This is a form of Gnosticism.)

Sola Scriptura also means that the Scriptures stand on their own. Yes, you need the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth (John 16:13), but that’s it. No more. Anything else is a deception – no matter how red the speaker gets in the face when he insists he is teaching orthodoxy and Sola Scriptura.

The answer to all the bluff and bluster is easy and simple: “Show me where it is written.”

“Then the proconsul pronounced the sentence of death, which was as follows: ‘I command, that Maximus be stoned to death, as an example and terror to other Christians; because he would not submit to the [Roman] laws, and sacrifice to the great Diana [goddess] of Ephesus.’… ‘And presently this faithful champion of Christ was taken away by the servants of Satan, brought without the city walls, and stoned. While he was being led away, and stoned, he thanked God with his heart, who had made him worthy to overcome the devil in the conflict; and thus committed his soul into the hands of his Lord Jesus Christ.”
–the fate of a “certain pious Christian, called Maximus, a citizen of Ephesus” in the year 255 A.D.[2]

that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

(Deut. 4:2)

A New Old SyncretismWho would have ever thought that the evangelical world would come to this? Dabbling in the occult and being entertained by images and idols? The very sins that the ancient Hebrews were severely charged by God to avoid, are now rushing into the church at breakneck speed. As in the days of the Old Testament, the creeping gradualism of accommodating small concessions to idolatrous practices (New Age meditation, Yoga, e.g.) and has grown and expanded to now welcome the wholesale introduction of an ancient pantheon of gods and goddesses from every heathen culture.

These old idols, to which the ancient Roman world had dedicated so many temples,[3] are now being revivified by their reintroduction in our modern era. This has come into the culture via New Age astrology and science fiction. These spectacular stories have been widely promulgated through comic books and entertainment media for many decades. But now they are coming into the church in the guise of an elaborately constructed end-time eschatology. This eschatology claims to be superior to the old models because it is based on gleanings from so-called sacred knowledge found in pagan myths and ancient writings.

This reinvigorated ancient mythological idolatry is being marketed to the evangelical world as a new and exciting eschatology by a group we have called the Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm (PPP) teachers. Endemic to their fabricated eschatology is the staunchly forbidden and unwise practice of seeking illumination outside of Holy Scripture. These teachers are now attempting to merge pagan mythology with the Bible.[5] They have not only sought counsel from pagan and occult sources, but have also turned faulty proof-texting into a refined art, creating an erratic, erotic and exotic mixture of blended spiritualities.

Across our culture, and now in the church, mythology is being dished up
on a new platter of high-tech imagery. The old lifeless wooden and stone
statues (images/idols) are being re-cast into a new mold. Can these “gods” talk? The
surprising answer is “yes” – thanks to Hollywood acting, film
photography and digitalized imagery. It makes these images/idols more “potent,”
especially in the imagination. This quality doesn’t make them
“real.” Yet some prophecy teachers are claiming they are real. And it is this very claim, that they are real, that classifies them as pagan deities.

As you read the following account of how evangelicals are now adopting ancient pagan mythology and attempting to incorporate it into biblical eschatology, consider the following sober Scriptural warning about staying away from these mythological gods and their images:

“Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them,after that they be destroyed from before thee;and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.’ Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth,have they done unto their gods;for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”

(Deut. 12:30-31)

Adopting Pagan MythologyIt is impossible to get to the end of a Tom Horn book without being inundated with the sordid lifestyles of the fabled ancient Greek and Roman deities—whom Horn claims exist today as real live creatures.

On page 9 of his 2007 book, Nephilim Stargates: the Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers, Horn begins, “In Hesiod’s Theogony we learn…” He goes on to name these mythological deities, along with their numerous exploits and sordid sinful activities:

The Titans

Gaia

Uranus

Oceanus

Tethys

Mnemosyne

Themis

Hyperion

Iapetus

Atlas

Chronus

Aphrodite

Rhea

Hestia

Demeter

Hera

Hades

Poseidon

Zeus

At the end of this tale, Horn writes:

The concept that sky, sea, and underworld are inhabited by “gods” who use the earth as a mutual gathering ground, door, or path between dimensional realities is important and is repeated in the mythos and holy books of cultures around the world, including, as we shall see later, the Bible.[6][bold added]

Horn does not start with the Bible. He begins his book with pagan mythology. Furthermore, the Bible does not teach that mythological “gods” even exist as real creatures, let alone that they “use the earth as a mutual gathering ground, door, or path between dimensional realities.” This is a heathen belief. Note this description of Hesiod’s Theogony, the original source of Horn’s lineage of multiple pagan “gods” purportedly in existence today:

The Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, Theogonía, pronounced [tʰeoɡonía], i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th – 7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of Greek polytheism, composed circa 700 BC. It is written in the Epic dialect of Homeric Greek.

Hesiod's Theogony is a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of local Greek traditions concerning the gods, organized as a narrative that tells how they came to be and how they established permanent control over the cosmos. It is the first Greek mythical cosmogony. The initial state of the universe is chaos, a dark indefinite void considered as a divine primordial condition from which everything else appeared. Theogony is a part of Greek mythology which embodies the desire to articulate reality as a whole; this universalizing impulse was fundamental for the first later projects of speculative theorizing.[7] [bold and red added; italics in original; links removed]

“Speculative theorizing” describes exactly what Horn does in Nephilim Stargates. But these mythical ideas did not come from God’s Word. Note the emboldened sentence in red from the description of Hesiod’s Theogony above—“a narrative that tells how they [the “gods”] came to be and how they established permanent control over the cosmos.” Horn is leading readers headlong into ancient mythology—including Greek, Roman, Babylonian, and Egyptian. Horn has given heed to pagan myths just as the Bible warns of in the last days (1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 4:4).

Note how Horn incorporates heathen mythology and other ancient occult writings into his science fictionalized eschatology:

Something alarming has been happening since the dawn of time, which has been recorded in the history, holy books, and mythos of every great civilization. Ancient rabbinical authorities including Septuagint translators and early church fathers understood it. Sumerians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, the Hindus, the American Indians, and virtually all other civilizations throughout history believed it. Beings of super intelligence sometimes referred to as “gods”have since time immemorial descended through openings of sky, earth, and sea to interact with this planet’s creatures. The behavior of these “unknowns” is recurrent and seems to revolve around the need to harvest or manipulate molecular matter, especially human and animal... [8][bold, red added]

Much of these mythological speculations about ancient astral visitors to earth originated from Erich von Daniken and his notorious pseudo-science book Chariots of the Gods. It was Chuck Missler who first popularized von Daniken’s discredited theories in the evangelical church, re-writing them into his own end-time prophecy scenarios in Alien Encounters.[9] These unorthodox theories – popular in UFO lore – teach that the ancient “gods” were space alien/fallen angels who visited earth and inseminated it with their DNA, thus corrupting the human race in the past, the present, and will do so again in the future. Missler attempted to re-cast von Daniken’s space alien theories into a biblical mold by claiming that these were responsible for the ancient “Nephilim” giants of Genesis 6.[10] By thus corrupting Scripture we now have science fictionalized god-creatures roaming about seeking to wreak havoc on endtime earthlings. This is the gist of the new endtime prophecy teachings.

Chuck Missler also brings in ancient Greek mythology to re-interpret 2 Peter 2:4-5, verses dealing with God’s judgment upon the sinful angels who were “cast down to hell.” He begins by what seems to be a scholarly exposition of Scripture:

…[Peter] ties that event to ‘the days of Noah.’ He not only confirms Genesis 6, but links it to ‘the days of Noah.’ The word Tartarus deserves some comment. The problem with this word is it doesn’t appear anywhere else in the bible—but it does appear in the Greek literature. It’s the Greek term for the dark abode of woe. It is the pit of darkness in the unseen world. It shows up for example in Homer’s Iliad where Tartarus is ‘as far below Hades as the earth is below heaven…’ [11]

But what starts out as a Bible study based on Scripture quickly degenerates into the study of a pagan myth:

Now if you study Greek—classic Greek mythology, you run into the Titans, these creatures in the legends and myths. [Titans] were partly terrestrial; partly celestial. They rebelled against their Father Uranus, and after a prolonged contest were defeated by Zeus and condemned—where? Into Tartarus.[12][bold added]

Continuing in his talk, notice how Missler makes the startling claim that these legends “embody the truth.” The truth?! He jumps from Scripture into the ancient gods “Atlas and Hercules,” then turns around and suggests they were “Nephilim” – and then he makes an incredible leap into UFO lore’s “Star People.”

Do you see a parallel brewing here? I’m going to suggest to you that the legends of the ancient Greeks embody the truth of what really happened in the past; that there were these strange creatures generating hybrids that the Greeks called Titans. And we see Zeus in many forms. We see Atlas and Hercules. Atlas and Hercules from Greek mythology were what would be called in the Hebrew: Nephilim. Offering of an intermarriage between a god and a woman, and, um, so these legends we obviously seen in the Sumer culture…. [slide showing pagan mythologies: Assyria, Egypt, Incas, Mayan, Gilgamesh, Persian, Greece, India, Bolivia, South Sea Islands, American Indians]

Every one of these cultures… have legends on the Star People—these people that came, these gods or demigods—whatever—came and cohabitated with women and produced hybrids.[13] [bold, red added]

So, according to this esteemed Bible teacher, the Greek Titans were real? Is he asking his Christian followers to believe that these “part terrestrial, part celestial” mythological figures were really the Nephilim—“gods or demigods [who] came and cohabitated with women and produced hybrids”? Astonishingly, YES! With an updated science fiction twist!

The adoption of these pagan sources – combined with wild speculations, hidden secret codes that only the elite can unlock, science fiction and UFO lore, and the hyping of crisis-ridden current events – has led Horn and Missler, along with their other PPP adherents, further into this end-time fantasyland. How far out can it go? These teachers actually birthed a modern mythology that claims a space alien outpost exists on the planet Mars, a fact which we documented in Part 5 of this article series, titled “Nephilim are from Mars: Fallen Angels are from Krypton.”[14] Horn's Nephilim Stargates actually proposes:

…Beings of super intelligence sometimes referred to as “gods” have since time immemorial descended through openings of sky, earth, and sea to interact with this planet’s creatures. The behavior of these “unknowns” is recurrent and seems to revolve around the need to harvest or manipulate molecular matter, especially human and animal. The unknowns appear to come to us from nearby planets and/or dimensions and may actually be represented by the Watchers of Apocryphal texts. As mankind expands beyond earth, eons-old ruins of artificial structures or active sites belonging to these ultraterrestrials could be discovered. Such is rumored to exist on Mars and on the dark side of the moon….[15] [bold, red added]

Related to this discussion, we raise a question: Is it just a coincidence that Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates has included Hesiod’s Theogony in a new nationalized high school curriculum he’s funding called Common Core?[16] The timing seems significant. The study of mythology has been part of a Classical Education for thousands of years, especially to understand Western civilization, the arts and sciences. But since the education reform agenda was launched several decades ago, there has been an effort to reintroduce ancient pagan mythology to children as an actual religion.[17] Will children be taught to believe that these ancient gods and goddesses are REAL creatures?[18] We note that the later Roman empire was characterized by an “allegoric interpretation of the ancient mythology which undeified the greater part of the heathen Pantheon.”[19] In other words, stories of the gods and goddesses became like fairy tales – the gods were no longer worshipped as deities; they were just stories. Except to the genuine pagans who still kept up their idolatrous rites and rituals.

However, the Roman emperor known as “Julian the Apostate” attempted to re-introduce paganism to the Roman world after Christianity had become widespread. Julian tried to bring the gods back to life and re-instituted ancient rituals, rites and sacrifices to the gods across the empire. One historian noted that Julian's resultant spiritual mixture created a hybrid “eclectic paganism”[20] based on “high speculative and imaginative doctrines,”[21] all leading to a gradual degradation of Christianity into “superstition.” He described in vivid detail the demonic basis of this syncretism and how it compromised the Christian faith:

The heathen Theurgy,[22] even in its purest form its dreamy intercourse with the intermediate race of dæmons, was poor and ineffective compared with the diabolic and angelic agency which became more and more mingled up with Christianity. Where these subordinate dæmons were considered by the more philosophic pagan to have been the older deities of the popular faith, it was rather a degradation of the ancient worship; where this was not the case, this fine perception of the spiritual world was the secret of the initiate few rather than the all-pervading superstition of the many. The Christian dæmonology, on the other hand, which began to be heightened and multiplied by the fantastic imagination of the monks brooding in their solitudes, seemed at least to grow naturally out of the religious system. The gradual darkening into superstition was altogether imperceptible, and harmonized entirely with the general feelings of the time. Christianity was a living plant, which imparted its vitality to the foreign suckers grafted upon it; the dead and sapless trunk of paganism withered even the living boughs which were blended with it by its own inevitable decay.[23]

Evangelical postmodern prophecy leaders are promoting this very same mixture. They want people to think these ancient pagan gods and goddesses are real live creatures. Pagan demonology and heightened fantastic imaginations contribute to give their syncretistic eschatology some extra pizzazz.

THE DIVINE COUNCIL- PPP Style

[The divine council is] the heavenly host,the pantheon of divine beings who administer the affairs of the cosmos.All ancient Mediterranean cultures had some conception of a divine council.The divine council of Israelite religion,known primarily through the psalms, was distinct in important ways.
~ Michael S. Heiser[24]

“The Divine Council”[25]

The adoption of pagan mythology has been accompanied by aggressive attempts to integrate and infuse it throughout the Bible, resulting in new interpretations that are far outside the plain meaning of the Text. This unholy mixture has led Tom Horn and other postmodern prophecy paradigm (PPP) teachers to establish and teach false doctrines such as ‘The Divine Council’ – a concept which has been popularized and perpetuated by Dr. Michael Heiser, Christian author, conference speaker, and scholar of ancient languages.[26] Contorting the Scripture and greatly diminishing God’s sovereignty, this false teaching says that after the Tower of Babel, the Lord God gave His sovereignty over to “divine beings” who now rule the world or cosmos. (This is why hyper-spiritual warfare prayer strategies have been concocted to battle these unseen deities.[27])

The ancient pagans also taught this spirit world theology, especially in the context of occult divination and astrology:

Below this primal Deity and his glorious image [the Sun, ed.] there was room for the whole Pantheon of subordinate deities, of whom, in like manner, the stars were the material representatives, but who possessed invisible powers, and manifested themselves in various ways, in dreams and visions, through prodigies and oracles, the flights of birds, and the signs in the sacrificial victims.[28] [bold added]

Tom Horn’s latest book, Zenith 2016: Did Something Begin in the Year 2012 that will Reach its Apex in 2016? is a repackaging of his old 2009 book Apollyon Rising 2012. The book was reissued and updated because the pagan god Apollo failed to materialize as Horn predicted (prophesied?) in 2012. Horn’s explanation of “The Divine Council” from this book sheds further light on his adoption and promotion of ancient mythology:

In the study of the Divine Council—the pantheon of divine beings or angels who currently administer the affairs of heaven and earth—experts typically agree that, beginning at the Tower of Babel, the world and its inhabitants were disinherited by the sovereign God of Israel and placed under the authority of lesser divine beings that became corrupt and disloyal to God in their administration of those nations (Psalm 82). According to the theory, these beings quickly became worshipped on earth as gods following Babel, and because these angels, unlike their human admirers, would continue on earth until the end of time, each “spirit” behind the pagan attributions was known at miscellaneous times in history and to various cultures by various names. This certainly agrees with the biblical definition of idolatry as the worship of fallen angels, and means the characterization of such spirits as Jupiter, Justice, Osiris, and Isis can be correctly understood to be titles ascribed to distinct and individual supernaturalism. The spirit behind Apollo was thus a real personality; Osiris actually lived, and still does.…[29][bold, red added]

Notice that Horn claims that Apollo was “a real personality” and that “Osiris actually lived, and still does.” Does Horn actually believe that these ancient mythological idols are real and still alive?! The supposed “experts that typically agree” with this extreme adoption of pagan mythology – especially in their attempt to make it seem compatible with Christian orthodoxy – are not mentioned here. However, Horn does cite Heiser as a source of this teaching in his other writings.[30]

Reality check: Angels are NOT “gods” or “divine beings.” They are the heavenly hosts—messengers of Elohim Who created them to serve Him and humanity (Gen. 19:15; 32:1; Isa. 37:16; Ps. 78:25; 78:49; 91:11; 103:20; 104:4; Matt. 24:31; 25:31; 26:53; Mk. 1:13; 1 Pet. 3:22; Heb. 1:6-7; 1:14; 2:2; 2:5; 12:22; 13:2, etc.). In the end, God alone will deal with the angels that rebelled against His authority. (As a side note, it is interesting that PPP leader Chuck Missler is on the Board of Directors of the International Standard Version (ISV) of the Bible in conjunction with his business partner William Welty. Coincidently, the ISV translates the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 and 6:4 as “divine beings.”[31] )

Fellow PPP guide Gary Stearman, author and host of the syndicated TV program Prophecy in the News is also perpetuating these same teachings. By twisting certain Bible verses and engaging in imaginative speculation, Stearman tries to make the case that “Zeus” and “Apollo” are “real.” Note that he even refers to “modern stories” as a source for his fantasy. Modern stories?! What could these stories be other than science fiction tales?

Myths, legends and modern stories all testify that upon this earth, there were once powerful and evil superhuman beings who took great pleasure in tormenting mankind. They were the old gods of tradition and folklore, Zeus, Apollo and their ilk. Were they merely figments of human imagination, or were theyreal? Are these the entities the Bible identifies as fallen angels? Many Christians do not want to believe that these demigods of old were real. With the development of the early church, pagan deities faded into the forgotten pages of folklore. Yet the Bible refers to "sons of God," "fallen angels," and other demonic creatures who once tried to subvert humanity. They perfectly fit the description of the old demigods. Perhaps they were real, and are now either locked up or restrained. Will these fallen angels return? The Bible says that in the tumultuous days of the Tribulation Period, they will return.[32] [bold, red added]

And so these deceptions proliferate through popular authors, speakers, radio and television hosts, and Bible teachers. Like unwanted dandelions in an untreated lawn, their ugly roots spread throughout the yard in a seemingly bright array of yellow—until the flower fades revealing an ominous sea of feathery white seeds that are cast by the wind to perpetuate the unrelenting cycle of mass deception. In similar manner, the mythology craze in Christendom is carried on by new growth. New faces are beginning to pop up in the marketplace in order to pass on these deceptions to the next generation.

For example, newcomer Christian author and speaker, Peter D. Goodgame, incorporates this intoxicating mythological “Divine Council” heresy into his recent book (published by Tom Horn), The Second Coming of the Antichrist (SCA)—a book that promotes the return of the reincarnated pagan god Apollo (aka Nimrod/Osiris/Nephilim) as the biblical Antichrist[33]:

When God decided to intervene at the Tower of Babel, He did so in agreement with a group of beings that surrounded Him: “And the Lord said…Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:6-7). Who was God speaking to? The extra-biblical book of Jasher explains that God was speaking to a particular group of angels who surrounded Him: …What we see is that the decision to break up Nimrod’s empire was made in a ‘divine council’ setting, which included God and this group of angels who were part of God’s chain of command that was particularly responsible for watching over the earth.... God descended to the earth to break up Nimrod’s empire along with this specific group of seventy angels….[34][bold added; underscore and italics in original] (SCA, pp. 108-109)

Note in the above example that Goodgame resorts to using the extrabiblical Book of Jasher to prop up his speculations about a “divine council” of “seventy angels.” Below Goodgame further embellishes his story, by claiming that the ancient “gods” were “real”:

At the Tower of Babel, the entirely of humanity was divided up into tribes and eventually seventy tribes emerged who were ‘allotted’ into the hands of seventy angels. These are the ‘sons of God’ who Deuteronomy refers to as the ‘foreign gods’ who are distinct from the ‘Most High,’ who Himself chose Israel as His own nation. The ‘gods’ of the pagan nations that surrounded Israel were real. The Tower of Babel event did not just mark the emergence of different languages; it also marked the very beginning of polytheistic paganism as the dominant form of worship throughout the world.[35][bold, red added, italics in original] (SCA, pp. 110-112)

Employing the corrupted DNA thesis of the PPP teachers, Goodgame then says that ancient Nimrod was a “half-god.”

The word apotheosis means ‘to become a god.’ We already know that the seventy angels who descended at the Tower of Babel became worshipped as the ‘gods’ of the Gentile nations. We have also identified the god Enki as the historical Satan, the ultimate leader of these angels. If Nimrod was the son of Satan/Enki then this means that he was ‘half-god’ through his genetic father. So from the very beginning, due to his size, strength, cunning, and influence, Nimrod was undoubtedly worshiped as a “god.” [36][bold added, italics in original] (SCA, pg. 155)

Notice above that none of this teaching came from the story about the Tower of Babel is recorded in God's Word, the Bible. By twisting still more Scripture, these men also claim that the Garden of Eden was [is?] a meeting place for this imaginary “divine council.” Observe how God is degraded to a mere co-ruler. Isn't this fact alone a dead giveaway that something is very amiss in these teachings?

In Ezekiel 31, Asshur is portrayed as a great cedar of Lebanon that is even greater than the “trees of Eden, in the garden of God.” The Garden of Eden, as Michael S. Heiser has shown... was also the “meeting place of the divine council” where God would meet with the other “sons of God” who participated with Him in ruling over the earth…. [37][bold, red added] (SCA, pp. 263-264)

Next, apparently based on the wacky and pseudo-scientific theories that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built with the help of space aliens, Goodgame surmises that it was constructed by “seventy Kosmokrator angels” as “portrayed in Masonic representations”:

So, once again we are brought back to the Great Pyramid of Giza… that was designed according to the layout of the constellation Orion, the Great Hunter in the sky. As we have endeavored to show, Osiris is none other than the biblical Nimrod, the “mighty hunter before the Lord,” whose death brought about the division of his global empire into the hands of the seventy Kosmokrator angels who descended from heaven to begin their era of authority over mankind. The seventy angelic “world powers” eventually came to be understood as seventy-two, which is the number of “conspirators” who aided Set/Typhon in the murder of Osiris. It is also the number of angels associated with the KabbalisticShem ha Mephoresh, and the number of stones portrayed in Masonic representations of the Great Pyramid.[38] [bold added, italics in original] (SCA, pg. 326)

Besides occult Freemasonry, Goodgame has also tied his teaching of the Divine Council to Jewish mysticism, which he reveals in a separate lengthy online article written in 2004, “The Divine Council and the Kabbalah.”[39] The PPP inspiration for Goodgame’s mythological soup includes both Horn and Heiser—who trace their teachings back to the ancient pantheon of gods and goddesses.

THE DIVINE COUNCIL- Pagan Style Heiser’s “Divine Council,” whole-heartedly embraced by PPP leaders, is actually a modern twist to ancient pagan myths. Heiser simply dresses it up in biblical attire.[41] What is The Divine Council?

Council of gods before the
Deluge[40]

A Divine Council is an assembly of deities over which a higher-level god presides…

The concept of a divine assembly (or council) is attested in the archaic Sumerian, Akkadian, Old Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Caananite, Israelite, Celtic, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman and Nordic pantheons. Ancient Egyptian literature reveals the existence of a “synod of the gods”. Some of our most complete descriptions of the activities of the divine assemblyare found in the literature from Mesopotamia. Their assembly of the gods, headed by the high god Anu, would meet to address various concerns. The term used in Sumerian to describe this concept was Ukkin, and in later Akkadian and Aramaic was puhru.[42] [bold, red added; other formatting removed]

As King Solomon wisely admonished, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9-10). These Divine Council concoctions have very old pagan roots – roots not generated from the Christian God or the Holy Bible. In order to understand this concept of the “divine council” evangelicals are finding themselves lured into deeper and deeper occult lore. This dark world of the occult is a never-ending spiral of decoding mysteries and unlocking secret hidden messages. It is a shrouded path that promises deeper and more enhanced spiritual “knowledge.” Taking this spiritual journey does not lead to redemption by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is a false way, not the true Way of Jesus, who said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

"Through thy precepts I get understanding:therefore I hate every false way."(Psalm 119:104)

"For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie,and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain:therefore they went their way as a flock,they were troubled, because there was no shepherd."

(Zech. 10:2)

Compounding the deception is the sad fact that these idolatrous myths have now been adapted and tweaked to satisfy modern carnal appetites. We shouldn’t be surprised. The original tales about gods and goddesses were lewd, lascivious, incestuous and carnal. Their worship was accompanied by pagan rituals such as animal or human sacrifices, chantings, repetitive prayers, expiations, lustrations, severe trials, fastings, purifications, and rites of initiation too gruesome and vulgar to discuss.[43] Our postmodern church age is characterized by bringing in these pagan practices.

THE DIVINE COUNCIL-Marvel Comics Style The PPP teachers have been accommodating popular culture’s thirst for all things pagan. These leaders have tragically missed a great chance to share the Gospel of salvation message, telling the world about Jesus Christ Who defeated Satan at the cross — the real Son of God Who is quickly coming back to earth in the clouds with great power and glory! (Mark 13:26). Instead the prophecy leaders' mythological cocktails teach a nearly identical message to what Hollywood is dishing up. Here is Hollywood's latest concoction:

The Nordic god Thor will be featured in a new Hollywood action movie sequel this month acted by an all-star cast.[44] It is a perfect example of the new “eclectic paganism”[45] invading our culture (and the church). It might surprise some that Marvel Comics creators have their own version of The Divine Council:

The Council of Godheads, also known as the Council Elite, represents a union of the leaders (or their delegates) of the various pantheons of gods on Earth. There are over twenty separate tribes or races (pantheons) of superhuman beings associated with Earth claiming to be gods. The vast majority of these pantheons trace their origins back to Gaea, one of the Elder Gods (such as Chthon and Set) who materialized on Earth before any other life had appeared there. The other Elder Gods degenerated into demons, preying upon each other. [46] [bold added]

Given the immense creative license and profit incentive involved here, there are no limits or boundaries to contain these pagan legends to their ancient moorings. Note these telling observations from the Marvel Comics Wikipedia page on “The Council of Godheads”:

Each member of the Council possesses magical and cosmic power on a scale comparable to even the Elder Gods and certain cosmic beings, far dwarfing that of a Sorcerer Supreme’s might. The Abrahamic God seems to be absent either because He is omnipotent, omniscience [sic], and omnipresent and frightens the others or because He refuses to ‘play ball’ with the other gods.[47] [bold added]

In this same vein, the PPP promoters of these same dark myths betray a complete lack of regard for the sovereign God of the Bible. They have invented their own science fiction pantheon of mythological demi-god figures that battle with each other in the Nephilim multiverse (holographic universe).[48] Believing these god-creatures possess elite knowledge and special powers, they teach that these deities need to come to the aid of an inept God, who has apparently lost control of the cosmos and needs help from them. In these sorry teachings, the PPP adherents are not really looking for Christ to return—but instead they are watching the skies for the return of the Greek god Apollo (Nimrod/Osiris/Apollyon).[49]

Yet the Scriptures do not urge us to look for an ancient god, nor the Antichrist, nor sci-fi heroes, but instead warn us that Christ will appear on a day that we are not looking for Him (Matthew 24:50), and says we should be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Mythology Goes to Church Films and TV shows have showcased science fiction since the early days of Flash Gordon. In this entertainment media they created a captive audience that loves to be titillated with exotic sci-fi scenarios. But recent sci-fi thrillers such as The Avengers series (originating again from the Marvel Comics genre) include these mythological gods as main characters. For example, as seen in the movie poster of Thor in the subsection above, these films treat the old Nordic god as though he is a real extraterrestrial god with superhuman powers.

Rob Skiba's DVD jacket

Christian filmmakers have been quick to leap onto this bandwagon. They have now brought these pagan myths to the movie and DVD marketplace. One of the up-and-comers is Rob Skiba, author of Babylon Rising: and the First Shall be the Last, The Archon Invasion: the Rise, Fall and Return of the Nephilim, and creator of the film Seed the Series. Skiba is a script writer, director, producer, camera man, editor, and actor.[50] He has also produced a DVD presentation called “Mythology and the Coming Great Deception” which was reviewed by Prophecy in the News (PITN) writer Bob Ulrich. Note how Ulrich talks excitedly about the Hollywood “buzz” in bringing back this ancient “Greek Mythology”:

Christmas arrived early for me this year in the form of two thought provoking DVDs from Christian filmmaker Rob Skiba. We first met Rob at Future Congress in Branson; Tom Horn’s spectacular prophecy conference, and we were impressed. As a professional filmmaker, Rob’s material was a pleasure to watch; chock full of graphics, film clips and images that bring his presentations to life. 180 minutes of pure excitement on 2 enlightening DVDs!

I felt like the proverbial “kid on Christmas morning” as I carefully unwrapped these discs. Our ancient past holds many secrets that seem to be coming to light in our day; subjects hinted at in the Bible, but not fully revealed.

How can anyone understand the Bible without a working knowledge of Genesis 6, the real reason for Noah’s Flood? How can you understand the Antichrist if you don’t understand his connection to Nimrod and Greek Mythology? Was Nimrod a Nephilim? ...Did he physically alter his DNA?...

Hollywood is all a buzz these days, creating superheroes and bringing comic book titans back to life. No doubt some of these “bigger-than-life” hybrids walked our planet many years ago. Rob’s Mythology and the Coming Great Deception takes us back to the roots of Greek Mythology....

Centaurs and satyrs? Creatures like Horus? Thor’s hammer? Connecting these pagan myths to the Nephilim? By now it is becoming quite evident that the Nephilim giants, which Chuck Missler reinvented as space aliens in his 1997 UFO book Alien Encounters, have become an integral part of this whole endtime pagan sci-fi mythological scenario.

It appears as though Skiba is indeed “creating superheroes and bringing comic book titans back to life” ala Hollywood. Notice how all of this is turned into a mythologized modern-day science fiction. Fellow PPP author L.A. Marzulli, creator of the Watchers DVD series, teaches similar ideas:

Centaurs, minotaurs, nymphs, fawns, are all familiar images from Greek mythology, but was it just mythos? Were theseso-called fictious creaturesin fact theby-productof the fallen angels who created the Nephilim, by cohabiting with the women of earth?[52][bold, red added]

Below are other recent Skiba video documentaries with similar UFO, Nephilim and mythologized science fiction themes:

The Mount Hermon – Roswell Connection

Archon Invasion: And the Return of the Nephilim (Part 1)

Archon Invasion: And the Return of the Nephilim (Part 2)

Archon Invasion: 2045 and the Quest for Immortality

Babylon Rising: 322, Tetrads and the Time of Jacob's Trouble[53]

There is nothing remotely edifying or trustworthy in these heathen tales and myths. These are not taught in the Scriptures. Horn, Missler, Heiser, Stearman, Skiba, Marzulli, and others who heed these Greek and Roman myths veer further and further from the Word of God which warns believers to flee from these deceptions. Sadly, like other PPP leaders, Skiba has also demonstrated his low view of Scripture in favor of apocryphal and even occult writings.[54]

Tragically, like the Marvel Comics creators, these prophecy paradigm leaders continue to build upon their mythological ideas and extra-biblical gleanings—including the purported ability of these evil demigods to tamper with human DNA.[59] Tom Horn first marketed these captivating deceptions to the evangelical world through his prolific writings, especially his 2010 book, Forbidden Gates. Notice the common themes:

Besides apocryphal, pseudepigraphic, and Jewish traditions related to the legend of the Watchers and the “mighty men” born of their union with humans,mythologized accounts tell the stories of “gods” using humans and animals to produce heroes or demigods (half-gods). When the ancient Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament (the LXX or Septuagint) was made, the word “Nephilim”—referring to the part-human offspring of the Watchers—was translated gegenes, a word implying “earth born.” This same terminology was used to describe the Greek Titans and other legendary heroes of part-celestial and part-terrestrial origin, such as Hercules (born of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena), Achilles (the Trojan hero son of Thetis and Peleus), and Gilgamesh (the two-thirds god and one-third human child of Lugalbanda and Ninsun). These demigods were likewise accompanied in texts and idol representation by half-animal and half-human creatures like centaurs (the part-human, part-horse offspring of Apollo’s son, Centaurus), chimeras, furies, satyrs, gorgons, nymphs, Minotaurs, and other genetic aberrations. All of this seems to indicate that the Watchers not only modified human dna [sic] during the construction of Nephilim, but that of animals as well, a point the Book of Enoch supports, saying in the seventh chapter that the fallen angels “sinned” against animals as well as humans.[56] [bold, red added]

Stop for a moment and think about what you just read. The sources for this new interesting information come straight out of the occult! Notice the tactic of taking a mythological account, or an ancient apocryphal book like the Book of Enoch, and subtly trying to incorporate it into the Scripture. The leaven of mythology is being mixed into the dough of prophecy. Absolutely none of these sensationalized claims can be supported by the truth of plain Scripture. These are heathen fables being brought in to corrupt God’s Word and deceive followers. And yet these teachers are asserting that their syncretic teachings are “new truth” about the last days.

Should we be surprised that both Hollywood and Christian filmmakers are lured into this captivating imagery and seeking a market to expand these fabricated and energized mythological tales? We know from warnings in Scripture that idolatry is a powerful addictive force. Guard your heart and your mind carefully so you are not lured into these seductive fantasies! “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Mark 22:37).

No wonder so many believe that these ancient pagan gods are “real.” This use of film imagery, based on the high tech computerized visual enhancements developed by Hollywood, have created a genre of science fiction that is becoming a virtual reality for many. It creates a parallel spiritual reality, an alternative past and future eschatological scenario, in which powerful god-creatures can roam in and out of our universe at will, wreaking havoc on the plain simplicity of the Gospel message with their dark and violent crimes. In other words, this visual imagery of ancient mythological gods becomes both a tool and a vehicle of great deception.

Entertaining Carnal MythsIntrigued by an interview he did with Tom Horn on Forbidden Gates, J. Michael Bennett, Ph.D, former host of the radio program Future Quake,[57] wrote a 58-page chapter for Horn’s 2011 book Pandemonium’s Engine titled, “Nimrod: The First (and Future) Transhuman ‘Super Soldier’.”[58] Horn’s book title and jacket was adopted from the ancient erotic Greek god, renowned for his sexual prowess, Pan.[59] Pan served as the inspiration for the original New Age Harmonic Convergence in 1987 which celebrated the supposed return of the spirits of all of the ancient gods and goddesses. It was Pan who was said to be the god baptizing mankind in the paradigm shift in human consciousness, looking towards the return of Mayan god Quetzecoatl on 12-21-12.[60]

Graphic from Raiders News Update e-alert, July 28, 2013 [61]

Bennett, like Horn, turns his readers away from God’s truth and headlong into “the Myth of Isis and Osiris” (depicted in Horn’s offensive graphic above)[62]:

Let’s briefly depart from the Biblical record, and consider details of the most famous myth in all of recorded history—the Myth of Isis and Osiris. Many of such ancient myths incorporate superstitions, fables, and exaggerations, with conflicting and contradictory details that reflect political realities at a given time and place. They also often provide a “devil’s view” of history, where the perspectives and roles of God and the Adversary, and their spiritual and human henchmen are reversed in their roles or motives, going back to the actions of the gods Enki and Enlil in ancient Sumeria. However, they [ancient myths] can also preserve nuggets of ancient knowledge and history, even if distorted by time and other causes, as well as give perspectives of world events different from those expressed in the Bible, and even shed light on the agenda of Satan himself.[63][bold, red added]

In other words, according to Bennett, the Bible is not sufficient. It must be supplemented with pagan mythology in order to extract “nuggets of ancient knowledge and history” not found in the Word of God—including new insights “on the agenda of Satan himself.” Is it remotely possible that he or anyone else can separate the “conflicting and contradictory details” of these tantalizing tales from truth, including the “devil’s view” of history, apart from the Scripture? No! These deceptive ideas lure countless souls into the Gnostic and occult realms, not into God’s light.

Take careful note of Bennett’s fatal departure from Scripture in order to extract “ancient knowledge” from lascivious myths—a practice admittedly inspired by Tom Horn:

This ancient story revolves around a number of godlike siblings—Isis, Osiris, and Set (alternatively spelled as “Seth”). Set is often described as being sterile or generally infertile, necessitating his wife Nephthys to disguise herself as Osiris’ sister/wife Isis, to become impregnated by him. Once discovered by Set, in rage he set a trap by inviting Osiris to a banquet with seventy-two other gods as guests, who trick him into “test-fitting” a coffin-like container given to him there as a gift, who then subsequently seal him inside, and drop him into the sea.
His wife, Isis, the goddess of magic, frantically searches for him, and finds his remains and sarcophagus in the Phoenician city of Byblos, in Lebanon. After returning with his remains, they are taken again by Set, who cuts them into fourteen or more pieces…, and disperses them throughout the world.

Again, she faithfully reclaims these pieces, gathering all of them except his reproductive phallus, which had been swallowed by a fish. Undaunted, she fashions an artificial replacement phallus from gold, and conceives with him by hovering over his corpse as a vulture or kite, as Osiris becomes the Lord of the Underworld….[64] [bold added]

Another troubling earmark of the current PPP heresies is an increasing fixation on depraved, lewd, and debauched sexual themes as though they were cleverly imbedded in Scripture by God and suitable for Christian consumption. Perverse immorality is central to their end-time occult false eschatology, which the Bible calls idolatry (Col. 3:5). And, as we have noted previously, it is a key characteristic of ancient pagan practices connected with the worship based on mythology.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”(1 Jn. 5:21)

A depiction of the Greek god Pan is on this Horn book cover

The Truth About IdolatryIt was precisely this form of idolatry – Greek and Roman mythology merged with eclectic paganism – that clashed with Christianity in the early church. Early Christians saw mythology for what it truly is – idolatry. Many Roman emperors sought to compel Christians to sacrifice to the ancient gods and goddesses on altars in their temples. For refusing to perform these pagan rites, thousands of believers lost their lives, and many were hideously tortured first.[65]

Yet we now see these same idols, the fabled Greek and Roman and other ancient gods and goddesses, brought into the church as though they are real live creatures!

Early Christians took the Bible’s warnings seriously to flee the sins of idolatry. They willingly forfeited their earthly lives rather than have any appearance of evil compromise with idolatry. How tempting it must have been for Maximus (whose story is at the top of this post) to simply offer a sacrifice to the mythological Diana of Ephesus rather than be beaten with sticks and then stoned to death!

Scripture is filled with warnings that these idolatrous images are not real! In fact they are lies! But they do distort man’s thinking:

“Every man is brutish in his knowledge:every founder is confounded by the graven image:for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.”(Jeremiah 10:14)

“What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it;the molten image, and a teacher of lies,that the maker of his work trusteth therein,to make dumb idols?Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake;to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach!Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.” (Habakkuk 2:18-19)

Old Bible commentators urged Christians to still beware of all these idols, myths, legends, fables and images. Matthew Poole, remarking on the Hababbuk verses, noticed that idols are “a teacher of lies” in whom there is “no breath at all”:

whether graven or molten, yet all such images are but teachers of lies, Jer. 10:1,14. They withdraw the mind from God, our true and only helper, and bewitch men to trust to idols, in which there is no help, which ever proved lies to all that trusted on them….

…sottish men! In misery to hope that lifeless idols shall counsel and direct. What! Dumb, and without sense, and yet teach![66] [bold added]

The Apostle Paul’s dying charge to Timothy was to “preach the word.” His urgent command to his faithful son in Christ warned of a time after his earthly departure when many would “turn away their ears from the truth” and “turn aside to myths.” Surely that time has come.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Matthew Henry, writing in the 1700s, commented on these 2 Timothy verses:

People will turn away from the truth, they will grow weary of the plain gospel of Christ, they will be greedy of fables [myths], and take pleasure in them. People do so when they will not endure that preaching which is searching, plain, and to the purpose. Those who love souls must be ever watchful, must venture and bear all the painful effects of their faithfulness, and take all opportunities of making known the pure Gospel.[67] [bold added]

Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,neither were
thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,and their foolish heart
was darkened.Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,And
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an imagemade like to
corruptible man, and to birds,and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things.Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleannessthrough the lusts
of their own hearts,to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:Who changed the Truth of God into a lie,and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,Who is blessed for ever. Amen.(Romans 1:21-25)

About Me

Check your daily "HERESCOPE." Herescope is an online journal revealing heresies and false teachings affecting the church today. Copyright 2005-2017 held by the author, IRG, Inc., or Discernment Ministries, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Herescope is a term coined by Lynn Leslie literally meaning "scoping out a heresy." Herescope began as a regular magazine column in The Christian Conscience magazine published during 1995-1998 by IRG, Inc. The Discernment Research Group is an ad hoc fellowship of Christian researchers with roots dating back to 1985. For more articles, books, and newsletters go to http://www.discernment-ministries.org.